


A Tale of Ferris Wheels and Mustaches

by 16minutes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, an embarrassing attempt at writing something cute by yours truly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 19:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5060716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/16minutes/pseuds/16minutes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which James is afraid of heights and Lily isn't having any of it. Carnival ficlet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tale of Ferris Wheels and Mustaches

**Author's Note:**

> Fic request from my dear friend punkjearmin. Comments and criticisms are appreciated!

“...You’re not scared, are you?”

James opens and closes his mouth three times before talking. “I-- Me? Scared. Ha. Ha! Laughable. Oh Lily,” (here he drapes his arm around her shoulder), “When did you become a comedian?”

“Convincing,” Lily says dryly. “Have you considered a career in acting?”

“Only briefly. But then I realized that it simply wouldn’t be fair to the other actors, you know? They would compare themselves to me, only to realize they could never obtain my level of talent. And at that point, their only option would be seppuku and-- hey, where are we going?”

Lily, at this point, has taken James’s hand and is leading him deeper into the carnival.

“Relax, Olivier.”

“Who’s Olivier? Where are we going?”

Lily sighs. There’s no point in lying to him. “We’re going on the ferris wheel.” She holds up his hand before he can object. “If you’re not scared, I don’t see what the problem is.”

James says nothing, but mopes the rest of the way there.

They're at the front of the line and James is covered in sweat when he speaks again.  
  
“Alright. Alright.” He holds up his hands. “I’m going to tell you something. Now this may surprise you but… Alright. It’s possible that I might be a little scared of going on the ferris wheel.”

Lily has her arms crossed and looks unimpressed. “You don’t say.”

“Yeah. So-- So I admitted it. I’m scared. We can get out of line?”

“Nope.”

“Nope?”

“We’re still getting on it,” Lily tells him in her most informative voice.

This is when the worker yells “next in line!”

Lily pushes open the gate, and climbs into the seat. She crosses her legs and looks at James expectantly.

James considers his options. Lily is already on board. He could -- and he’s just thinking, here -- but he _could_ run away right now and spend the rest of the year and his life avoiding Lily. He would go into hiding, moving from place to place, maybe grow a mustache. He’s always fancied growing a mustache. He’d look good with a mustache, no matter what Remus and Sirius and Peter said. He’d--

“Hey! If you’re not getting on, move outta the way!”

James looks up to see a rather large man (with an impressive mustache!) behind him. He closes his eyes. And then he does something that he’s sure he’s going to regret.

He gets onto the ferris wheel.

“Glad you could join me.”

James is about to reply when there’s a jerk. And suddenly, they’re moving. Up and up and up and oh god, he’s going to vomit, and what’s worse he’s going to vomit in front of Lily and she’ll never speak to him again.

“Hey. Are you okay?” She looks concerned.

“Yeah. It’s just. You know. Heights.”

She furrows her brow. “You play quidditch. You go higher up than this.”

“That’s different,” he says, and tries not to look at how far up they are now. “That’s so so so different. That’s on a broom. And you’re controlling it, not some mysterious force--”

“--you mean the operator--”

“ _mysterious force_ ,” he says pointedly. “That is probably evil and probably wants us to die and--”

“James,” Lily says in a way that really means ‘shut up.’ But her next words come out softer “James, _look_.”

James turns his head, prepared for the worst. They’re at the very top, he realizes, and he’s ready to panic, but then he does look. And his jaw nearly drops. Because below them is the entire festival, every booth and game and little dots that must be people.  And then there’s Lily, the setting sun painting her face gold. And he’s reminded why he got on this ferris wheel in the first place, and it had nothing to do with a large man yelling at him.

Lily sees him looking at her and smiles. She looks like she’s going to say something but then decides against it and instead scoots closer and tucks her head into James’s shoulder. James lets his head drop onto hers. Their hands become intertwined. James sighs, contently. They sit there, at the top of the ferris wheel, and watch the world together.


End file.
